Interpreting The Mini Mental Status Examination

Mini Mental Status Examination, which is abbreviated as MMSE, is also known as the Folstein test. It is basically a short 30 points questionnaire test which is actually for the screening for the cognitive impairment. This test is used in medical field for screening for dementia. Moreover, it is used for estimating the seriousness of the cognitive impairment at a specific time and follows the whole course of cognitive changes within a person over the course of time. This is quite an effective way of documentation of a person’s response towards the treatment.

With a time of 10 minutes, this test samples several different functions which include the orientation, arithmetic, and memory. This test was introduced by Folstein and his colleagues during the year 1975 and that is the reason the test has been named after him. It is similar to the mental status examination. MMSE includes various simple questions or problems belonging to all possible areas.

The consistent use of the identical questions enhances the overall reliability of the comparisons that are made using the scale; this test sometimes is customized for patients that are blind, partially immobilized, and incubated. Any score equal to or above 25 points represent effective normal score while the scores that are below this might indicate severe, moderate, or mild points. Presence of physical problems might interfere with the whole process of interpretation if not noted properly for instance a patient might be physically incapable of hearing or reading the instructions correctly or might also have motor deficit which then affects the drawing as well as writing skills.

A mental status examination is actually the basis for the understanding of client’s presentation. At the first place, this exam might appear quite time consuming as well as overwhelming but it is not that useless to be done. It can be carried within a few minutes of time and the best part if that one can get interviewed that too just watching the client in a careful manner. More..